Using employee engagement to measure the impact of internal communications
What is internal communications and why is it so challenging to measure?
Internal communications (IC) are the strategies and processes used to share information within an organisation to ensure that employees are informed, aligned, and engaged with the company’s goals and values. This includes everything from leadership announcements and company updates to employee newsletters and internal social media channels. The goal is to keep employees informed, engaged, and aligned with the company’s values and objectives.
While measuring the effectiveness of internal communications might seem straightforward, it presents unique challenges. Outputs—such as the number of emails sent, intranet posts published, or meetings held—are relatively easy to track. However, these metrics don’t tell the full story.
The real challenge lies in measuring the outcomes of internal communications—how these efforts translate into actual changes in employee behaviour, attitudes, and overall engagement. It’s one thing to know how many employees opened an email, but it’s far more complex to determine how that email influenced their understanding of the company’s mission or their commitment to its success.
This difficulty in linking communication efforts directly to tangible business outcomes makes it harder to prove the value of an internal communications programme.
What is employee engagement and why is it important?
Employee engagement is the emotional commitment employees have to their organisation and its goals. Engaged employees are more productive, deliver higher-quality work, and are more likely to stay with the company long-term. High levels of engagement lead to better business outcomes, including increased profitability, customer satisfaction, and lower turnover rates.
Research consistently shows that companies with high employee engagement levels outperform their competitors. For example, Gallup’s 2020 meta-analysis found that companies in the top quartile for employee engagement were 23% more profitable than those in the bottom quartile. This makes measuring and improving employee engagement not just a communications goal, but a critical business objective.
Unlike many other outcomes of internal communications, employee engagement is relatively easy to measure. Organisations can assess engagement levels through surveys, feedback tools, and by tracking specific behaviours such as participation in company initiatives or the willingness to go above and beyond in their roles.
As employee engagement is one of the more straightforward outcomes of internal communications to measure, high engagement levels indicate that internal communications are effectively reaching and resonating with employees, making it a key metric for assessing the success of an IC programme.
Engaging for success and the four drivers of engagement
The UK government’s 2009 MacLeod Report, “Engaging for Success,” identified four key drivers of employee engagement. These drivers offer a framework for understanding how internal communications can influence engagement:
1. Strategic narrative: Employees need to understand the company’s mission, values, and strategic objectives. A compelling narrative helps them see the bigger picture and understand their role within it.
2. Engaging managers: Managers play a crucial role in fostering engagement. They must communicate effectively, provide feedback, and support their teams.
3. Employee voice: Employees should feel heard and valued. Providing channels for feedback and ensuring that this feedback is acted upon is critical to maintaining engagement.
4. Organisational integrity: There must be consistency between what the company says and what it does. Employees are more engaged when they believe in the integrity of their organisation.
Measuring internal communications using these drivers
To measure the impact of internal communications on employee engagement, organisations can use these four drivers as a guide:
1. Strategic narrative: Assess how well employees understand and align with the company’s mission and values. This can be measured through surveys that ask employees to rate their understanding of the company’s goals and their role in achieving them. For example, Google uses a “Googlegeist” survey to gauge how well employees understand and connect with the company’s mission.
2. Engaging managers: Measure manager effectiveness through feedback scores, employee retention rates, and participation in management training programmes. A company like Starbucks, for example, regularly measures manager engagement and effectiveness as part of its broader employee engagement strategy.
3. Employee voice: Track participation rates in feedback platforms and the number of suggestions or concerns raised by employees. Additionally, measure the company’s responsiveness to this feedback. An example of this is Unilever, which has implemented an extensive feedback system that ensures employees feel heard and valued.
4. Organisational integrity: Evaluate the consistency between company actions and communicated values. This can be assessed by comparing internal communication outputs (e.g., company policies, leadership messages) with employee perceptions, gathered through surveys. A company like Zappos is known for its strong organisational integrity, which is regularly measured through employee satisfaction and alignment surveys.
Bringing it together in an employee survey
The most effective way to measure these drivers collectively is through a comprehensive employee survey. Surveys should be designed to cover all four engagement drivers, with questions tailored to assess how well internal communications are driving these factors.
Real-world examples show the power of such measurement. For instance, Unilever conducted an employee engagement survey that revealed a strong understanding of the company’s sustainability goals, which was directly linked to their internal communications efforts. Similarly, Nationwide, a financial services company, used regular surveys to measure the impact of their internal communications. By focusing on feedback from employees, Nationwide was able to make adjustments that led to improved engagement scores, demonstrating the value of their communications programme.
In conclusion, while measuring internal communications is challenging, focusing on employee engagement provides a clear and valuable metric. By aligning your measurement efforts with the four drivers of engagement, you can prove the impact of your communications and continuously refine your strategy to support both employee satisfaction and business success.
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